Yu Darvish has nine wins for the Texas Rangers and is among the league leaders in strikeouts. How would he look right now in a Blue Jay uniform? But the Jays decided that the expense—the money—was too prohibitive for a Japanese pitcher.

Mat Latos has five wins for the Cincinnati Reds and is among the league leaders in strikeouts. Gio Gonzalez has eight wins for the Washington Nationals and is among the league leaders in strikeouts. Trevor Cahill has six wins for the Arizona Diamondbacks and is among the league leaders in strikeouts. Each of these three pitchers were traded in the off-season for prospects but the Jays decided not to trade for one of them and hold onto their prospects. How would any of these three look in a Jays’ uniform right now?

This past off-season Jay followers were stunned that the team did nothing to upgrade a serious problem—the rotation. Instead the club began the season with rookies filling three-fifths of the rotation. And the club failed to add depth at the minor league level in case any of the youngsters flamed out. Nobody could have foreseen that two of those youngsters would suffer season ending injuries a little more than two months into the campaign, and the loss of Brandon Morrow, who was pitching at a Cy Young level, was stunning and disarming. But now in the aftermath of losing three pitchers the Jays are trying to piece together a rotation using spit and polish.

It is far too late to moan about the club’s inaction during the off-season but if the Jays want to be in the mix for the two wild card spots then they need to fix this problem and fast. Reports are that the Jays are seeking pitching help but those same reports state that the Jays are unwilling to add payroll in any deal. This is a disturbing notion—if true—and points directly upstairs to the mega billion dollar corporation where its members are pinching pennies with regard to its baseball team.

Apparently the Jays, like catfish, are trolling around the bottom of the ocean looking for food. On Wednesday the club added David Pauley off the waiver wire and then on Thursday acquired Sean O’Sullivan from Kansas City. Neither of these pitchers will help solve their rotation woes—the only difference between O’Sullivan and Jesse Chavez is that O’Sullivan has a longer name.

The players in the clubhouse are looking up at the general manager’s office waiting and hoping that help is on the way. The Jays are six and a half games behind the first place New York Yankees and if something isn’t done quickly to solve this serious issue then the Jays can forget about the Yankees and likely any possibility of a playoff spot. Again September will roll around without any meaningful games to be played.

So what can the Jays do?

The likelihood of trading for some of the higher profile pitchers that are available seems remote. At least right now. The Cubs are dangling both Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster—though Dempster is currently on the disabled list. These two veteran pitchers have been on the trade market since the off-season but the Cubs are asking for the moon in return, and with the Jays in desperation mode the asking price will only go up—at least until the trade deadline gets closer and the number of clubs inquiring begins to dwindle. So the Jays are going to have to make a secondary deal—for either a struggling starter like Jeremy Guthrie from the Rockies or a starter whose price tag is high but value is much lower.

There are many positives surrounding the team as the midway mark approaches. The constant juggling of the line-up appears to be settling with Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus looking like locks in the top two spots in the order. With a powerful Edwin Encarnacion hitting behind him Jose Bautista is now starting to get pitches to hit—and has already hit ten home runs this month. And with inter-league play coming to an end after this weekend’s series in Miami the Jays can start to formulate a game plan for their offence going forward.

It appears as if Travis Snider’s wrist is healthy again and his continued success at the minor league level ensures that he will be getting a call to the major league club very soon. As well Adam Lind is crushing the ball in AAA and is likely on his way up as well. The issue with the offence remains second base. Kelly Johnson was off to a good start this year but he is playing on one leg and has lost the power in his swing. We may be getting close to seeing Adeiny Hechevarria up with the big club and playing second base.

There is no timetable for the return of closer Sergio Santos. In the meantime Casey Janssen has more than capably filled the role. But with the poor performances and the sudden injuries in the rotation the bullpen has been called upon to work far too many innings. The club needs Ricky Romero to return to ace status and needs Henderson Alvarez to pitch his way out of the slump that has caused him to give up gopher balls at an alarming rate. The club also needs Brett Cecil to channel his inner Jamie Moyer and keep the club in games, and the club needs someone to come in and soak up some innings.

If management is unable to acquire a solid veteran starter any time soon then the club can begin to make plans for 2013. The problems with that is both Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison are likely unavailable until 2014, and the young studs in the lower minors won’t be ready until that time as well. This means that not only is this year a write-off but next year as well. And if it is two more years then what will become of the middle of the order bats? Who will still be here if the club meanders through mediocrity for two more years? Who will want to come here? The Jays are in a precarious position where contention may be a fleeting desire, and may never actually arrive. Unless they do something quick.

Thoughts that arise in me

…So Roger Clemens was found not guilty of perjury by twelve members of the pitcher’s fan base. While the not guilty verdict means that Clemens won’t go to jail there is enough evidence of Clemens the cheater that he won’t be going to the hall of fame either.

…We may be watching the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals for many years to come. It looks like a modern day re-telling of the Larry Bird Celtics and the Magic Johnson Lakers who seemed to face each other every year.

…Apparently there is some kind of soccer event going on in the world these days. Now I find it a contradiction in terms to have soccer and event in the same sentence, but then soccer is an interesting game—for kids.

…There were two interesting back and forth debates through the media in baseball this week. First it was Indians pitcher Derek Lowe and Reds manager Dusty Baker who got into it through the media after Lowe apparently threw intentionally at a Reds player because of a feud the two have that goes back years. Then Washington manager Davey Johnson complained to umpires about Tampa Bay pitcher Joel Peralta having pine tar in his glove. The umpires investigated, found the pine tar and immediately tossed the Rays pitcher from the game. Subsequently Peralta was suspended eight games by MLB. The issue goes back a few years when Peralta pitched for Johnson. Apparently the pine tar in the glove was okay as long as Peralta was on Johnson’s team, but wasn’t okay when he was on the opposing team. This began a back and forth between Johnson and Rays manager Joe Maddon that included pointed references to each other’s intelligence, reputation and the fact that Maddon uses twitter. Such fun.

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